Based in Brenham, Texas, Shoup specializes in the hardy survivors that were the subjects of poets and painters of days gone by. For old garden roses are just that: aromatic and visual links to pre-20th century gardens. Displaced by modern roses, such as the labor-intensive but beautiful hybrid teas developed in 1867, old garden roses were forgotten or neglected despite their natural hardiness, versatility, and striking aromas. But thanks to the efforts of a growing number of enthusiasts, many varieties of old garden roses are still around. And additional ones are being rediscovered in the same way Shoup started his own inventory: by visiting old homesteads and cemeteries where the flowers bud year after year untended and often abandoned.

In the early 1980s, Shoup stumbled across a rose called 'Mermaid' while looking for plants native to Texas that could replace the shrubbery he'd become bored with in his commercial nursery. When one of his staff members brought back cuttings of this climber, which had overtaken a chain-link fence on a country road, he was struck by its beauty and tenacity. "It rooted like a weed," Shoup says. "In a couple of months' time, we had 6-foot-tall plants. It had been thriving on an old fence without any care at all, certainly different from the modern hybrid tea. We then became aware of hundreds of old roses thriving in less-affluent neighborhoods and cemeteries and abandoned home sites."

Shoup and his staff kept hunting, and gardeners with plants passed down through generations shared their cuttings. He also discovered the Texas Rose Rustlers, a loose confederation of preservation-minded gardeners who'd similarly been practicing search-and-rescue tactics, leaving the plant intact while removing a few cuttings and getting permission to do so when possible. Shoup found that some of the varieties were easily identifiable, and others were not; he often named the roses after their location, such as 'Highway 290 Pink Buttons.'

"These are time-tested survivors," says Shoup. "Modern roses have been bred for that perfect flower, and they can be frustrating to a lot of people. They need to understand that the modern roses are show horses--they can't perform on an ongoing basis."

Aleene Sinclair of the American Rose Society in Shreveport, Louisiana, bought her first old garden roses years ago from the Antique Rose Emporium. "Old garden roses are around because of the perseverance of a small group of people," she says. "They're like family heirlooms. Mike understands that--he's very much into preserving our past and being sympathetic to people's needs."

Shoup added roses from England to his collection. With large and small shrubs, and climbers both vigorous and mannerly, he designated the appropriate plant hardiness zones to his offerings. He then built gardens in Brenham; Dahlonega, Georgia; and San Antonio. Though he closed the Georgia gardens, he admires the many personalities the same rose may have when planted in different settings. He also appreciates the cycles of the garden as a whole. "We have gardens that have roses in them, not rose gardens," he says. "The burden of the rose is off when there's a diversity of perennials and annuals."

Though he doesn't do a lot of rose rustling these days, preferring instead to focus on the display gardens, he says his staff will occasionally come across unknown cuttings. "It's so important that we don't let these roses be lost. They could be one of a kind," he says. "It's important to become a rose rustler, so that they're not lost altogether."

When to Plant
"The best time to plant is September through January or February," says Shoup. "The fall is so good in the south because the plants can get established before the hot, dry summer. But the beauty is if you plant in September, in April it's so much more lush. Of course, we still have to wait for April to see the intense beauty."

Antique Rose Society
www.ars.org

Texas Rose Rustlers
www.texas-rose-rustlers.com